By Chimezie Godfrey
Eighteen political parties that survived the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s hammer, have set up Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, interim committee following the deregistration of 74 political parties.
The parties said in a statement on Tuesday, that the deregistration had created a vacuum in the leadership of the council and in order to ensure the seamless contribution of the political parties to the nation’s electoral development, they had set up an interim management committee to run the affairs of the council.
It said that membership of the council was drawn from the existing 18 political parties and shall operate for a maximum of three months within which time a proper election would be conducted.
IPAC also commended the bold step taken by NEC) in sanitizing the electoral space, which resulted in the deregistration.
“It is therefore based on the lawfulness of the action of the commission, the desirability of the need to sanitize the electoral space that we the 18 political parties in Nigeria hereby endorse this bold step by INEC and commend it for this worthy cause.
“It is this will to implement the law despite whose ox is gored that we require for our nation building,” the statement said.
The statement was endorsed by 18 political parties which include, Accord party (A), Action Alliance (AA), African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic party (ADP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), and All Progressives Congress Party (APC).
Others are All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Peoples Democratic party (PDP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), and Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Also among the parties are Young Progressive Party (YPP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Boot Party (BP) and Action Peoples Party (APP).
